By now you’ve seen the pictures of the flooding and devastation from hurricane Sandy’s assault on the northeast. Well, unless you’re one of the more than 7 million without power in the region, then you unfortunately are living it (and likely not reading this).

Damage from Sandy has become a real threat to the Knicks at the Nets game Thursday, which was set to be the regular season debut of the Nets new home — the Barclay Center in Brooklyn, where the franchise moved after 35 years in New Jersey.

As you may have read, storm surge flooded the already closed New York subway system, with New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg saying Tuesday morning it could be “four or five days” before the system is back up and running.

Barclays Center is served by 11 subway lines and the Long Island Rail Road, none of which are running at the moment. City officials have said it will be three or four days before subway service returns. The lack of mass transit could be crippling for the arena, which sits on Brooklyn’s busiest intersection, at Flatbush and Atlantic Avenues. Parking in the area is severely limited. Barclays Center officials have promoted mass transit as the preferred option for visiting the arena, which opened Sept. 28.

The Nets also have home games scheduled for Saturday (against Toronto) and Monday (against Minnesota). The Knicks’ home opener is scheduled for Friday night against the Miami Heat.

There is no way the Nets want to postpone this game, both because it’s the home and building opener, and because they get a banged up Knicks team without Amare Stoudemire. There is no way the league wants to postpone an opening week, nationally televised game.

I don’t remember playing tonight. I didn’t play. Guys get a lot of money to be ready to play. No Knute Rockne speeches. It’s your job. If you’re a plumber and you don’t do your job, you don’t get any work. I don’t think a plumber needs a pep talk. If a doctor botches operations, he’s not a doctor anymore. If you’re a basketball player, you come ready. It’s called maturity. It’s your job.

Like it or not, motivation is part of an NBA coach’s job.

But that’s also precisely what Popovich is doing.

His credentials dwarf any other coach’s. He can play to his own ego and absolve himself of responsibility – and players will seek to please him. His years of success have earned him the ability to motivate this way, a method no other coach could use without alienating his team.

So, why not hold Motiejunas to what became a four-year, $31 million offer sheet once matched? Houston got something in return – a later trigger date on guaranteeing Motiejunas’ 2017-18 salary. Originally, that decision had to be made March 1 – which would’ve meant dropping Motiejunas from the team this season to prevent his salary from counting next season. Now, the Rockets can make that call in July, after this season is complete.

The following two Julys, Houston will also have a choice on guaranteeing Motiejunas’ upcoming salary or dropping him.

Essentially, Motiejunas is signing the most lucrative Hinkie Special in NBA history. If he plays well and stays healthy, the Rockets have Motiejunas at an affordable rate. If he struggles or his back injuries flare up, they can drop him with little to no penalty.

After they backed themselves into this corner, Motiejunas and his agent, B.J. Armstrong, didn’t do so bad. Considering the similarity between this contract and the Nets’ original offer sheet, it seems Houston helped Armstrong save face after a bungled free agency (which is easier to accept when you’re adding a talented reserve to a formidable team).

But for how little is guaranteed and how much control the Rockets hold over the next four years, wouldn’t Motiejunas have been better off accepting the $4,433,683 qualifying offer?

This means Motiejunas can’t sign with the Nets, who signed him to the original offer sheet, for one year.

I bet it also means Motiejunas and Houston have agreed to a new contract. Otherwise, why release him from the offer sheet? The Rockets would be giving up a tremendous amount of leverage out of the goodness of their hearts – unless this is just a prelude to a new deal with Houston.